Razer has squeezed a proper frag machine
into a tablet form. Could this be greatest portable gaming machine ever made?
A grand for a tablet? You’d have to be the
guitarist from U2 to afford one! But unlike U2, the Edge Pro justifies itself.
There’s a gamepad controller, a keyboard dock turns it into a desktop, or a
docking station and controllers turn it into a console ideal for Steam’s Big Picture.
Razer
has squeezed a proper frag machine into a tablet form.
A dual-core Core i7 CPU and 8GB RAM are
solid foundations, but any gaming machine worth its salt needs a discrete
graphics processor. The Edge Pro gets Nvidia’s GeForce GT 640M chip, an extra
brain that puts it comfortably ahead of the Ultrabook crowd.
Unlike The Edge from out of U2, the Edge
Pro will play pretty much anything you ask it to including full-fat, current-gen
PC titles. It runs the full build of Win 8 and should be able to handle
demanding work from the likes of Photoshop too. With a maximum of 256GB SSD
storage, there’s room for plenty of games.
With
a maximum of 256GB SSD storage, there’s room for plenty of games.
At 1366x768, the 10.1in IPS display offers
a less than 1080p experience. It’s likely a necessary trade-off to get enough
oomph out of the hardware, but the Nexus 10 packs almost four times as many
pixels into the same size. Then again, get an Edge Pro and you won’t hear Nexus
10 owners bragging because you’ll be playing Far Cry 3on the train.
We can’t afford one either. But we might
make it as far as the Edge Pro’s little brother: simply called (like guitarist
David Evans) the Edge. The $965, lower-spec Edge has most of the same hardware but
the CPU and GPU are a little less powerful (while still being respectable). RAM
and space drop to 4GB and 64GB.
At
1366x768, the 10.1in IPS display offers a less-than-1080p experience.
Obviously sound is vital in gaming, and the
Edge Pro packs as much audio aptitude as you’re likely to see in a tablet.
Stereo speakers won’t blow your mind, but the Edge’s ability to output 7.1
audio over HDMI will have your home cinema system rumbling with pleasure. It
beats 8-bit tunes, that’s for sure.
Alternatively…
OnLive
Cloud gaming removes the processing to a
server, meaning that a fast internet connection is all you need for top
performance. But given OnLive’s current state, we can’t guarantee it’ll
survive.
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Information
§ Price:
$1,500
§ Website:
razerzone.com
Tech Specs
§ Display
10.1in IPS, 1366x768 (155ppi), 10-point multi-touch
§ CPU
Dual-core Intel Core i7 @ 1.9GHz
§ RAM
8GB DDR3
§ GPU
Nvidia GeForce GT 640M LE (2GB)
§ OS
Windows 8
§ Storage
128/256GB SSD
§ Camera
2MP font-facing
§ Connectivity
3.5mm socket, HDMI,
§ USB3.0,
Wi-Fi (b/g/n)
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